Protective device for electrically-heated utensils



Sept. 9, 1924. 1,507,587

' V G. E. CURTISS PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR ELECTRICALLY HEATED UTENSILS File'd Dec. 1 1922 v y &

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Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. CURTISS, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO LANDEES, FRARY & CLARK, NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

. PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR ELECTRICALLY-HEATED UTENSILS.

Application nee December 1, lsaa Serial No. 604,314.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. CUR'rI'ss, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Britain, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Protective Devices for Electrically-Heated Utensils, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to protective devices for electrically heated utensils of the type disclosed and claimed in the U. S. Patent No. 1,060,266 granted April 25th, 1913, J oseph. F. Lamb, assignor to Landers, Frary & Clark.- The protective device shown in said Lamb'patent includes a member or connector having a relatively low. fusing point which melts and thereby breaks the circuit in the event the utensil reaches a dan erous degree of heat,- as when the current is left on afterjhe utensil becomes empty. It has beenfound in actual practice that users of these devices, when the connector is so melted, willscrew upth'e'holder to again bring the now foreshortened connector into contact with the terminals and'thus re-establish the circuit, and this is repeated until the connector has been melted down to such an extent that the holder or bushing may be brought into direct contact with the termi- 3 nals and then,

the electric heater may melted down, cannot be brought into engagement with the spaced terminals and thus insure against burning out of the heater. 0 In the accompanying drawing: I

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a utensil equipped with a protective device constructed in accordance with one 7 embodiment of my invention, and n Fig. 2 is aview similar to Fig. 1, but showing a slightly different embodiment.

In this drawing, a denotes a receptacle such as a percolator; b, the base, and c, the heater, the resistance element of which is connected to the circuit wires 03, 'e. Interposed in the latter wire are spaced terminals 7, g, extending through, but suitably insulated from, the wall of a tubular hub h de ending from the casing of the heater. This ub has cludes a readily fusible of course, there is no protec- 'tion for automatically breaking the circu1t,-

an internally threaded recess into which is screwed a tubular bushing or holderlO provided with an insulating lining 11 which supports a connector formed, at least in part, of lead or other suitable metal having a relatively low fusing point. In the pres ent illustrative disclosure, this connector in- 12 and a contact plate 13. The contact plate may, of course, be omitted, if desired. In Fig. 2, the contact plate is urged against the end of the fusible member by means of a spring 14. o

In accordance with the present invention, I provide the holder 10 with means adapted to prevent the end of the holder from being brought into engagement with the terminals m mber or tube after the lead connector has been melted down. In the present illustrative disclosures, this means includes an abutment or shoulder'on the holder adapted for engagement with a stop on the hub k. In Fig. 1, the abutment is in the form of a flange 20 on the outer end of the holder. With this arrangement, it will be noted that in any position of the protective device within the hub h, the distance between the flange 20 and the stop formed of the hub is less than that between the terminals and the inner end of the holder. In

the embodiment disclosed in Fig. 2, the inner end 20 of the holder constitutes an abutment adapted for engagement with a stop or shoulder 21' within the hub h. In each embodiment, it'is impossible for users of these devices to screw the holder into the hub to by the end surface'2-1' such an extent that this holder-will directly engage the terminals and thus burning out of the heater is effectively guarded against.

I desire it to be understood that it is m intention to cover any alterations or IIlOdlfication's which may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention l. In combination, an electric heater, a

pair of spaced terminals connected into the circuit of said heater, aholderand a connector therein having a relatively low fusing point adapted to close the circuit between said terminals, and ;means for preventing said holder from being brought into engagement with said terminals after said connector has been melted down. a

2. The combination with anelectrics heater and a pair of spaced'terminals connected into the circuit of said heater, a hub into which the ends of said terminals project, a holder threaded into said hub, a connector readily fusible at a relatively low temperature supported by and insulatedfrom said holder, and in contact with said terminals,

and a stop on said hub and an abutment on said holder ada ted for engagement to pre- GEORGE E. CURTISSQ 

